One-way clutch



W. A. JEX

ONE-WAY CLUTCH Filed Dec. 2, l935 30 ing.

Patented Nov. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE 1 2,080,376 ours-war CLUTCH William A. Jex, Somervllle, Mass. Application December 2, 1935, Serial No. 52,601

3 Claims. (01. 1 2-45) The invention relates to one-way clutches of the general type includinga shaft, a'circular wall concentric with said shaft, and clutch means interposed between the wall and shaft for establishing a connection between them upon relative rotation of the parts in one direction, and for freeing said connection and allowing relative rotation in the other direction. The circular wall may be considered as rotatably mounted (as in an oscillatory drive mechanism or a free-wheeling unit), and the shaft may either be considered as a driver. for said wall, or as driven by said wall. By fixing the circular wall against rotation, the same structure may be used to allow rotation of the shaft in but one direction, for'instance, to prevent an automobile from drifting rearwardly down-hill.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an exceptionally simple and inexpensive, yet an efllcient and unusually sensitive one-way clutch which will function without first-permitting any great amount of relative rotation of parts, the clutch effect being practically instantaneous I when fractional relative rotation occurs in one direction.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanyingdraw- Fig. 1 is a sectional view on the plane indicated by line i-l of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 isa sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the clutch in normal or released posi- 35 tion. r

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the clutch engaged.

- Fig, 4 isa perspective view of the camswith which the shaft is provided. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the rings which frictionaily engages the circular wall.

Fig. 6 is a'perspective view of the other ring which frictionally engages the circular wall. In the drawing above briefly described, a preferred construction has been illustrated and while this construction will be specifically ex.- plained it is to be understood that within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made. The shaft 6 is provided with two circumfer- .entially extending peripheral cams 1 and 1', each of substantially in length, each of said cams being provided with a radially, thin end 8 and with "a radially thick end 9, the peripheries of said cams j' '86 b ing arcuate from'end toend: The shaft is provided also with two circumferentially facing shoulders l0 and III, the shoulder It being at the juncture of the thin end 8 of one of the cams (1') with the thick end 9 of the other of said cams (1) while the shoulder It bears the same relation 5 with the other thin end 8 and thick end 9 of the two cams. The cams are preferably constructed in a single piece and fastened by a key or in any other preferred way to'the shaft 6.

Two rollers 12 and I! normally engage the 10 shoulders l0 and I05 respectively and the thin ends of the cams,' as seen in Fig. 2, and at least two rings l3 and I3 encircle said cams and rollers, said rings being within the confines of an annular wall 14 and normally out of any apl5 preciable frictional engagement with said wall. The ring I3 is provided with an internal-cam surface l5 which follows the peripheral contour of the cam l, and the ring I 3' is provided with an internal cam surface l5 which follows the go peripheral .contour of the cam i. The ring I3 is preferably formed with an internal surface it shaped to correspond with the cam surface I 5 of the ring l3", although this is not essential. Similarly, the ring l3 is preferably formed with 5 an internal surface It corresponding to the cam surface ii of ring l3, although here again this is not essential. The surfaces It and I6, however, shaped to correspond with the cam surfaces II and I5, permit a structure which is better so balanced than could otherwise be easily attained; At the junctures of its internal surfaces and It with each other, the ring I3 is provided with circumferentiallyfacing shoulders i7 and i1 which 1 The 35 ring I l is provided with shoulders l1 and I1 are opposed. to the shoulders l0 and I0.

located atthe iunctures of its surfaces It! and It".

The roller ii is normally engaged with the shoulder l0 and with the shoulders I! and ll, '40

with the thinend of the cam 1* and with the cam surface 15. The roller I2 is normally engaged with the shoulders l0, l1 and H", with thethin end 8 of the cam I and/with the cam surface It. 'With the parts so related/the clutch is free. .45 As soon as the smallest fractional relative rotation of shaft 8 and rings I 3, It occurs however, the cam I forces the roller l2 tightly against the cam surface i5 of the ring i3*,'forcin g this entire ring. diametrically into tight frictional engage- 50 meat with the wall it. At the same time, ham

1 forces roller l2- against the cam surface I! of the ring it, forcing this ring diametrically in the opposite direction into tight frictional engagenient with the wall II. To prevent roller II from 56 contacting with the surface l6 of the ring l3 and to prevent roller I 2' from contacting with the surface l6 of the ring I3", said rings are provided with clearance spaces l8 and I8 respectively.

It will be seen from the foregoing that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the object of the invention. Rotation of the parts 6, I, 'I, I2, i2, I3 and I3"- with respect to the wall I4 is freely allowed in one direction but is practicallyinstantaneously prohibited in the other direction.

The circular wall H may be mounted in any desired way. It is shown carried by a web I9 having a bearing 20 through which shaft 6 passes, and for example, it may be considered that said wall I4 is suitably held against rotation and that the shaft 6 is rotatable with respect to said wall. The invention, however, is not restricted in this regard as will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

Any appropriate means may be provided for retaining the movable parts within the confines of the wall l4. For illustrative purposes, I have two rollers at opposite sides of said shaft and disposed between said shaft and said rings, said shaft and rings being provided with oppositely pitched cams contacting with said rollers, said cams and rollers being operative to diametrically force said rings in said opposite directions into tight frictional engagement with said wall upon fractional relative rotation of said rings and shaft in one direction.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; said shaft and rings having shoulders facing oppositely in circumferential directions and engaging opposite sides of said rollers when said rings are free of frictional engagement with said wall.

3. In a one-way clutch, a shaft having two circumferentially extending peripheral cams each of substantially in length, each of said cams having a radially thin end and a radially thick end, said shaft having two circumferentially facing shoulders at the junctures of the ends of one cam with the ends of the other cam; two rollers engaging said cams and normally engaging said shoulders, at least two rings encircling said cams, and a circular wall encircling said rings and normally free of frictional engagement therewith, one of said rings being provided with an internal cam contacting with one of said rollers and following the peripheral contour of one of said cams of said shaft, the other of said rings being provided with an internal cam contacting with the 7 other of said rollers and following the peripheral contour of the other of said cams of said shaft,

said rings having circumferentially facing shoul- 'ders opposed to the aforesaid shoulders of said shaft and normally engaging said rollers respectively; said rollers and cams being operative, upon fractional relative rotation of said shaft and rings in one direction, to force said rings diametrically in opposite directions into tight frictional engagement with said wall. A. JEX. 

